Toilet deodorant



1970 R. E. GOODMAN TOILET DEODORANT Filed Aug. 18. 1967 WIIIIIIIIIIIIIImom/a0 Z, 6000MA/V INVENTOR.

BYW 9219 g m 477D/PA/E ya United States Patent 3,537,112 TOILETDEODORANT Richard E. Goodman, 1053 Roscomare, Los Angeles, Calif. 90024Filed Aug. 18, 1967, Ser. No. 661,619 Int. Cl. E03d 9/02 US. Cl. 4-231 6Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention is for an improveddeodorant for the toilet wherein a liquid deodorant is employed in asimple plastic receptacle which may be readily mounted below a toiletseat.

DISCUSSION OF PRIOR ART It has been conventional practice with respectto toilets to use a solid deodorant suspended in a toilet on a wirebracket. This type of construction which has been conventional for manyyears has a number of disadvantages. It is of a relatively heavy weightmaking the transportation cost from the manufacturing plant to a userrelatively expensive in comparison to the cost of the device. The soliddeodorant is brittle and subject to breakage during shipping. It isusually packaged in cellophane and subject to pin-hole evaporation, thissubstantially lower ing shelf life. The aroma of this form of deodorantis limited and generally unpleasant for use in the home. The cost of thedeodorant material is relatively expensive. Use of metal bracketsexposed to moisture creates rust and tends to cause and leave rust markson the associated toilet. In addition, the construction is such that itis difficult to conceal and is subject to tampering by infants. Thechemicals employed in the deodorant may be detrimental to the health ofsuch infants.

One attempt to solve the above problems has been the use of an aerosoldispenser employing a suitable 1iq uid deodorant which is vaporized byan aerosol mechanism. This has certain advantages but it is undesirablefrom the standpoint that it requires a manual operation each time theparticular room is to be deodorized. Thus, the dispensing is notautomatic. In addition, such aerosol deodorants are expensive and of arelatively large size.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A deodorant assembly for toilets and the likecomprising a plastic member having a receptacle portion for receiving aliquid deodorant; a cantilever support arm extending from one edge ofsaid receptacle for mounting on the ledge of a toilet below the seat; anadhesive layer on the underside of said arm to abut the ledge of thetoilet; a sealing portion for closing said receptacle; and a pluralityof aperture areas for permitting the deodorant to evaporate from saidreceptacle when said aperture areas are punctured, said aperture areasand said receptacle being fluid tight for shipping and until saidaperture areas are punctured.

The above structure has the advantage of being light in weight, low incost, rustless, easily concealed, simple in construction, flexible inthe type of deodorant that may be employed, and completely safe.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of anembodiment of the device mounted on a toilet;

FIG. 2 is a top view taken in the area 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional front view taken along the lines 3-3 of 'FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional front .view of the device shown in FIG. 3 prior tothe filling with deodorant and the sealing thereof;

Patented Nov. 3, 1970 FIG. 5 is a top view such as the one of 'FIG. 2 ofan alternate embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional front view taken along the lines 6--6 of FIG. 5;and

FIG. 7 is a sectional front view of another alternate embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1, this inventeddevice is a deodorant or dispenser assembly 10 which is attached to atoilet 12 and adapted to be concealed beneath the seat 14. The dispenserassembly 10 of the embodiment of FIGS. 24 comprises a cantilever arm 16having a receptacle 18 attached thereto. Preferably, the receptacle andarm are integral and formed of plastic by a conventional molding processand constructed from flexible polyethylene. The receptacle 18 hasaperture areas 20 coupled to the receptacle to enable liquid deodorant22 located therein to evaporate and automatically deodorize the toilet.The aperture areas 20 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 have been punctured toenable evaporation. In the manufactured state the aperture areas areweakened sections which facilitate their being punctured by the user(FIG. 4). The number of holes may be varied according to the deodorant22 employed and the deodorizing effect which is sought to beaccomplished. The cantilever arm 16 is attached to the toilet by a layerof adhesive 26 which is attached to the underside of the cantilver arm16 and adjacent the ledge of toilet 12. It is within the scope of theinvention to use a self clamping integral plastic arm to replaceadhesive 26 such as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

In the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 2-4, the aperture areas 20are opposite the open end 24. When filling the receptacle, the open end24 is inverted from the position shown in 'FIG. 4. Upon the filling ofthe receptacle 18 to a suitable level, the open end is sealed by heatsealing methods applicable to polyethylene or other suitable techniquesto form a fluid tight receptacle as shown in FIG. 3. During the shipmentthe receptacle The above construction provides a receptacle which isfluid tight during shipment, subject to filling during manufacture andsubject to dispensing when installed in the toilet by puncture of theaperture areas. The deodorant assembly is light in weight and adapted toreceive any suitable deodorant. The deodorant may be selected accordingto the particular odor desired. This deodorant is inaccessible toinfants. The entire assembly may' be substantially concealed. Thereceptacle is easily filled during manufacturing. It is readily subjectto opening so that the deodorant may be dispensed in a controlledmanner. The device being made of plastic and employing an adhesive forattachment to the toilet ledge avoids any rust problem. In addition, thedevice is simple in construction and subject to fabrication at arelatively low cost.

An alternate embodiment to this invention is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Inthis embodiment of the invention, the receptacle 18 is inverted fromthat shown in FIGS. 24. This construction of the receptacle avoids thenecessity of a fluid tight heat sealed closure which supports thedeodorant liquid. In this embodiment the sealing of the receptacle isaccomplished by a separate overlay member 30 which is joined and sealedto the cantilever arm 16 and receptacle 24. The overlay member 30contains the aperture areas 20 which are substantially identical to theaperture areas shown in FIGS. 2-4. The overlay member 30 may be joinedto the receptacle 24 and cantilever arm 16 by an adhesive or by heatsealing means or by other similar adhering devices. This embodimentincludes a plastic clamping arm which may be integral therewith,attached to or superimposed on the receptacle construction. In the formshown in FIGS. and 6 theclamping arm is integral with the overlaymember-30. The entire device is molded in one operation and completed byfilling and heat sealing. No additional individual packaging is requiredas the unit may serve as its own package. The clamping arm may be shapedor open end extending below said arm, said arm is integral may containan aperture to facilitate the clamping action and impart flexibility toarm.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 7. This embodimentof the invention is similar to those shown in the preceding figures withthe exception that the cantilever arm is omitted and the adhesive 26 isapplied to the wall of the container adjacent the ledge of the toilet12. In this arrangement, it is important that the receptacle conformover at least part of the surface of its inside wall 18 to the shape ofthe ledge of the toilet so that the adhesive will have an adequate areato adhere to. The receptacle and sealing structure may be similar tothat employed in the previous embodiments. This embodiment has theadvantage of a smaller size and less material.

Although this invention has been disclosed and illustrated with refernceto particular applications, the principles involved are susceptible ofnumerous other applications which will be apparent to persons skilled inthe art. The invention is, therefore, to be limited only as indicated bythe scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A toilet deodorant assembly for toilets and the like comprising aplastic elongated receptacle portion for receiving a liquid deodorant:

a cantilever plastic support arm extending from one edge of saidreceptacle mountable upon the ledge of a toilet below the seat, said armhaving a means for attachment to the ledge of the toilet;

a sealing portion for closing said receptacle; and

a plurality of aperture areas for permitting the deodorant to evaporatefrom said receptacle when said aperture areas are punctured, saidaperture areas and said receptacle being fluid tight for shipping anduntil said aperture areas are punctured.

2. The structure recited in claim 1 wherein said receptacle comprises anopen-ended receiver having an with said receptacle in the form of asingle molded plastic form, said aperture areas beingin the portion ofthe receptacle opposite the open end and said sealing portion formed bysaid open end being heat sealed to form a fluid tight receptacle.

3. The structure recited in claim 1 wherein said receptacle andcantilever arm are integral in the form of a single molded plasticshape, and said sealing portion is a separate overlay member attached toat least a portion of said arm and over said receptacle to form a fluidtight receptacle, said sealing portion having said aperture areathereinlocated over said receptacle.

4. The structure recited in claim 1 wherein said means for attachment isa layer of adhesive on said arm.

5. The structure recited in claim 1 wherein said means for attachment isa clamping arm attached to said canti lever arm.

6. The structure recited in claim 5 wherein said clamping arm isintegral with said cantilever arm.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 548,870 10/1895 Hager 42231,067,472 7/1913 Creed 4 -23 1 2,146,308 2/1939 Maxfield 5328 2,575,67611/1951 Neal 4229 2,716,243 8/ 1955 Kimzey 4222 2,940,230 6/ 1960 Flax.2,964,889 12/1960 Oelze et al. 2,991,517 7/ 1961 Bundy. 3,080,571 3/1963 Valerioti et al. 4228 3,186,606 6/1965 Williams. 3,245,197 4/ 1966Van Mil et al. 5328 3,316,559 5/ 1967 Ewing et al 4223 3,339,812 9/1697Meissner. 3,354,601 11/ 1967 Schneider :3 al 53--28 FOREIGN PATENTS24,215 11/ 1896 Great Britain.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner D. B. MASSENBERG, Assistant Examiner

